Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Share:

The Nonprofit Doomsday Clock How Close is it to Midnight at Your Organization?Karen Eber Davis

April, 2017

We've all read headlines about the Doomsday Clock moving toward midnight. Imagine your nonprofit has a similar instrument. It measures your organization's financial risks. What time is it? Is it three minutes to midnight?

Many of you share your fears with me. After all, you know donors die, government programs end, and galas grow stale. You're smart to be concerned, especially if a single revenue source fund more than 25 percent of your operations.

Three Techniques to Reset Your Clock To Morning

1. Anticipate Change. Make a contingency plan for the loss of your #1 funding stream. Plan now while you have the income.

2. Use Your Forever Income Strategy to reset your clock. Each new donor or customer you add pushes the clock back one or more minutes or even hours.

3. Seek resources like a heat-seeking-missiles finds heat. For every gift or sale, identify matching opportunities. For instance, a donor gives you an endowment. Show others how to follow this leader. Likewise, embrace threats by finding their matching opportunities. Use them to fuel your revenue diversity efforts.